Eating Healthy with Limited Appliances

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So, I was reading a Great Debates thread–the one on obesity and the cost of health care–and I kind of decided something:

I don’t wanna die when I’m thirty.

I mean, okay; this is probably an exaggeration. That outcome isn’t terribly likely; plenty of real fat people in their thirties. But I don’t wanna die when I’m in my 40s, either. Ideally, I don’t wanna die ever, but. . .you know, realism here.

And so, I need to lose weight. A lot of weight.

I know this isn’t gonna be easy, for all the usual reasons; while “calories in<calories” is a simple enough expression, if it were easy, no one would be fat.

My living situation right now is somewhat sucktastic. In terms of meals, I’m by myself. I have a microwave. I have one of those ridiculously small mini-fridges, with a freezer that might, on a good day, hold a steak. If necessary, I can acquire a hot plate and a Foreman grill. Other than that. . .not so much. Assume that purchasing a larger fridge/oven/an actual effing freezer is not an option right now.

I’m willing to grocery shop as frequently as every three-four days. I’d rather not eat out; that’s what I’ve been doing, and it hasn’t exactly been useful. Plus, it’s expensive. I’m only cooking for myself, and don’t have a useable freezer, so a lot of the recipies are useless. Yeah, I can make six servings, but I’m probably only gonna get to three of them.

So. . .any recommendations for relatively cheap, simple meals that don’t require an oven, multiple stove burners, or a large amount of refrigeration? Quick would also be good, but that’s less likely. And, while living on three Cliff bars a day would be easy. . .you know, I could probably manage doing that for about three days, and it doesn’t teach me anything.

A few stipulations, because they always come up in these kind of threads:

1.) No, changing my living circumstances is, ATM, not possible, due to complex financial issues. I might be able to in a year. Not until then.

2.) Yes, I’m aware of the fact that I need to exercise. Right now, I’m out of shape enough that walking, swimming, and very light weight training are going to be about it. That’s not what I’m asking for advice on.

3.) I am aware that this entire mess is my fault. This is what happens when you eat like shit for five years and don’t exercise.

. . .and that’s basically it. It’s really. . .well, very pathetic of me to go onto a message board and ask this, but. . .I don’t wanna die.

2

What sort of food do you like to eat? Just to get an idea of what to suggest…

3

How easy is it for you to get to a store?

4

Couscous is really easy to make in the microwave or in a single pan on the stove (literally, boil water, add couscous, cover the pan & take it off the heat – done!). It even comes in whole wheat. Even fancy pants organic couscous only costs $2 for a box of 4 servings – and it lasts forever if you ever have a chance to buy in bulk.

Anyhoo, take your cooked couscous and mix in some canned chickpeas or other canned bean of choice (liquid drained off) + some spice of your choosing (garlic/oregano, or maybe curry, or some pasta sauce) with a bit of olive oil. You can add some meat if you like too, a good use for leftovers. For a splurge stir in marinated artichoke hearts as your veggie, or else just have some raw veggies on the side; I like green peppers and sugar snap peas.

Tasty, nutritious, really quick.

5

You could get an electric skillet.

That would give you a few more options, like stir-fry. You can make a small amount at a time, so you don’t have to eat the same thing over and over. Microwave some rice.

6

What do I like to eat? Um, cheese, bacon, chicken, Cadbury Creme eggs. . . :smiley:

All right, honestly? I’m okay with mostly anything. I tend to like dairy, but that’s not the healthiest. I don’t like red or yellow peppers, though I’m strangely okay with the green. I’m not big on chili powder or cumin. Mexican food’s right out. I like garlic. Like rosemary.

The couscous sounds like a great idea, though.

7

I suck at reading today, apparently. Sorry about that.

I’d say that if you are going to get appliances, get a toaster oven. You can do the same thing with the hot plate that you do with the Foreman grill, so only get the grill if you have the space and money for that on top of the others.

8

Hmmmm…

You could do a lot with canned beans and chickpeas. For example, you could make a quick & dirty version of chana masala (an Indian dish) served over rice. To make the chana masala, take a can of chopped tomatoes, chopped onions (if available), chopped garlic (if necessary use the pre-chopped stuff) and a can of drained chickpeas. Cook the garlic first, onions if you got 'em, then throw in the chickpeas and tomatoes. Toss in a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of salt, a little cumin (you can omit if you don’t like, but perhaps you’d like it mixed in?) and some cayenne. Add other spices to taste. If you have a microwave, you can make some boil-in-bag brown rice, which is better for you than white.

You can make black bean cakes from black beans or another Indian dish from kidney beans.

What else… cans of tuna or, even better, salmon, can be cracked open for a quick, cheap and satisfying meal. You can make them into fish cakes using an egg, some breadcrumbs and chopped celery and a quarter of a chopped onion (use about 3 cans of tuna or salmon) with salt & pepper to taste. Mix the lot until firm and able to form four patties, then cook on a hotplate with a little oil until brown and serve with greens or as a sandwich on whole wheat buns. Or you can just dump the salmon or tuna over the greens and eat it that way.

Peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat can also be pretty healthy if you get lower-sugar (ideally, natural) peanut butter with sugar-free jelly.

Eggs are also surprisingly good for you - hard boiled, they can make a great snack and they store well even in small fridges. You can also scramble them in a microwave - just go in 30-second increments until you’re used to microwaving them so you don’t get exploded egg everywhere the first time. Top with salsa or serve on a whole wheat English muffin and you’ve got a great, healthy breakfast.

Oh, and frozen veggies of almost any kind round out any meal well - you can steam spinach in the microwave and mix with garlic to make a fantastic side. Broccoli can also be steamed easily in the microwave, as can green beans, which are excellent served with a little drizzle of balsamic or garlic and a handful of almonds and a pinch of salt. I’d go frozen over canned with veggies. As for fruit, buy seasonal fresh fruit and/or light or no-syrup canned over frozen, which can be ungodly expensive.

Other ways to cut calories - drink water, not soda (I tend to avoid even diet soda because I had a habit of drinking it with fatty meals), try drinking your coffee with skin milk or black and dilute juices with water because juice usually contains lots of sugar. You’re actually better getting any nutrients fruit juice does contain from the actual fruit instead of the juice because the fruit generally contains fiber (good for you) as well.

Those are my two cents.

9

As far as appliances go, I’d agree with the suggestions that you get an electric skillet or a toaster oven instead. If you have a bit of counter space and cash left over, go with a toaster oven and hotplate combo, which will give you maximum flexibility.

I lived for three years in an apartment where my kitchen consisted of two burners, a microwave and a large toaster oven… I’m still amazed at the variety of stuff I was able to turn out in my teensy kitchen. All you need is a little creativity.

A day’s worth of meals could look like this:
Breakfast: Scramble some egg whites in the microwave, stir in tomatoes and a little grated cheese, and wrap in a tortilla to make a breakfast burrito… or just go with low-fat yogurt with fresh fruit and a handful of granola mixed in.
Lunch: Make a quick salad with canned chickpeas, plain yogurt, fresh dill and sliced red onion. Serve with a can of tuna or a few slices of lean turkey breast.
Dinner: Make fries in the toaster oven (toss potatoes in olive oil and fresh herbs, bake 15 minutes, flip, and bake 15 minutes longer) or a batch of couscous. Serve with a microwave-steamed fish filet drizzled with a little lemon juice and garlic.

In general:
Try to boost your intake of fruits and veggies - most can be eaten out of hand, and the rest can usually be steamed quickly in the microwave with a minimum of fuss.
Stick to lean sources of protein, like fish, chicken or certain cuts of beef and pork - you can steam fish in the microwave, and broil just about anything else using a toaster oven.
Avoid processed foods as much as possible - there’s a lot of sugar, fat and salt lurking in them, and they’re never as healthy as what you can make yourself.
Go for whole grains - brown rice instead of white rice, swap bulgur wheat for couscous (it’s healthier and just as easy to prep), and buy whole wheat instead of white when you can.
Dairy is fine, but buy low-fat if possible (but never non-fat, because that’s just gross)

10

A lot of food will store at room temps, you want to start with these.

Onions and potates will keep for a long time, if kept in a cool, dark place. Whole grains are very healthy and will store for quite a while.

Most veggies and fruits will store for more than 4 days at room temps - since you’re willing to shop every 3-4 days, that’s plenty of time. In fact, tomatoes don’t like being cold at all, they are much better stored at room temperature.

I will dispute that “dairy” is necessarily unhealthy. Milk products are very high in protein and nutrients. You want to moderate your consumption based on how much fat is in a particular product - i.e. you can consume a lot of skim milk and yogurt, but be sparing with the butter and cheese. Even cheese varies in fat content.

Your problem, as you’ve identified, is storing protein. You can get canned meats, but you will need to check to see which ones you like. I find that fish and chicken come out ok, but beef and pork are pretty nasty.

However, most raw meats should keep for at least two days in the fridge. Cured meats and vacuum packed raw meats will keep for longer. What you probably need to do, for your waistline and your situation is start reducing what you consider an adequate portion of meat.

If your store has a butcher, you should be able to buy single servings of many meats. This will give you a lot more eating options.

11

I third or fourth the suggestion that you invest in a toaster oven. Ours has been a lifesaver and even now, with a fullsized stove/oven, we often use the toaster oven instead because it’s so much quicker to heat. Most come with a cookiesheet/pan like this one to catch drippings so it is perfect for cooking chicken breasts or pork chops or brochettes or small meat pies or whatever we feel will actually fit inside.

Since you don’t have a lot of storage space, but can shop often, I’d plan to cook “for two” and prepare two portions of whatever (so much stuff is packaged for two!) and eat one at that meal and store the other one overnight for lunch or supper the next day.

My husband and I managed to live for a year out of a bar fridge and food that we could store at room temperature. A lot of juices can actually be kept for a short time at room temp, even when opened, so we just had to be really diligent about refilling that pathetically small icecube tray that came with the fridge. When we bought pre-packaged things, we’d often take them out of the box in order to fit them into the fridge better.

Shopping often means that you can get a lot of fresh fruits and veggies; pay attention to which ones aren’t even refrigerated in the store, and buy those to save fridge space. Even many of the more delicate things like strawberries can be out on the counter overnight - think about it, people sell this stuff from roadside counters all the time, and they aren’t refrigerated!

If you can get an electric wok/skillet, then stirfrys can be very quickly made with some slices of meat, broccoli and rice (microwaveable) and store-bought sauces.

I don’t have much advice for recipes though. That’s my husband’s job!

12

A crockpot probably wouldn’t be a bad thing to have either.

If you shop every three days, you can hold the meat in your fridge - it doesn’t need to be frozen that quickly (on day three you might want to have a bean dish)

Beans and tofu provide good cheap shelf stable protein.

If you can do math, you can cut down recipes to single serving. Harder if you are buying your food in cans, though.

If you have other single friends, have “Tuesday’s at my place - Thursday’s at yours” - that lets you use make a full recipe. I had this going for a few months when I was newly divorced - and it was great. Cheap meals, companionship two nights a week.

Soups are really easy and a little practice with a crockpot will have you making soup in no time out of whatever you have around. Chicken broth, a little ham, a can of white beans (or soak some dried white beans and cook them - cheaper, but time consuming), a can of green beans, salt and pepper - soup!.

13

Sandwiches and wraps with fruits and crunchy veggies instead of chips and cookies are how I do healthy and filling lunches. Yogurts are great for breakfast or snacks or even dessert, just watch the fat and sugar content. I like Fiber One yogurts by Yoplait. They are very good and give you a good dose of fiber too.

Since your freezer is dinky, you will need to make good use of your fridge and pantry. Chicken is very versatile and healthy if you remove the skin. If you got a pack of chicken breasts you can grill the whole bunch with a Foreman grill, then slice for salads or sandwiches during the week.

A key thing to do since you have little space for storage is to make a meal plan for the week that includes some of the same ingredients.

14

The reason I haven’t talked about recipes yet is because you don’t really need a recipe to cook healthily. If you want to bake, you need a recipe, but meals can be made without one.

What you need is to know what it takes to make a healthy meal. I would say:

One meat serving (The recommended size is about the size of a deck of cards, less bones)
One whole grain carb serving, the wholer, the better.
Seasonings - oils sparingly, herbs and spices enthusiastically.
As many veggies as you can convince yourself to eat.

This could take the form:
Broiled steak, boiled new potatoes with rosemary and a touch of butter, spinach steamed in the microwave with garlic

Chicken stir-fried with a diced onion, bean sprouts, kohlrabi, and any other veggies you can think of, with brown rice cooked in the microwave.

Whole wheat pasta with diced tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, zucchini and other veggies cooked with a small can of tomato sauce, garlic and Italian herbs. Top with cheese.

15

The cleanup is often more of a hassle than the actual cooking part. If you do get the toaster oven and have the little baking sheet like **mnemosyne **linked to, line it with aluminum foil before baking/broiling stuff. Saves a LOT of headaches when cleaning because you’re not baking stuff onto the pan when is a huge PITA to get off.

I also agree with **overly **on the frozen veggies. While you don’t have a lot of freezer room, they won’t take up too much, and they won’t be as bothered by the freeze/thaw cycles as meat. And you can heat up one serving at a time (note that a serving of frozen veggies is generally 1/2 a cup so if you start aiming for 3-5 veggies a day, it’s really easy to get 2 servings from frozen veggies) and leave the rest in the freezer. They won’t last too long in the little freezer, but if you do eat 1 cup of, say, frozen corn at a time, a bag of it will only last for 2 or 3 servings… which you can definitely finish in a week, before it gets freezer burn.

16

The frozen veggies will take up more freezer room than she has - if what she has is functionally a dorm fridge. She will be stuck with canned - which are not as healthy or tasty, but an improvement over eating out or no vegetables - or fresh.

The good news is that a lot of fresh veggies WILL keep OK for the three days between shopping trips at room temperature.

17

Meats are easy. You don’t have to freeze a thing. A pound of meat should yield 4-5 servings (that’s the recommended portion size for healthy eating). Either cook it all the day you buy it and reheat the leftovers, or cook it one portion at a time. It won’t go bad in just those few days.

18

In my ballerina days, I ate almost entirely from one of these Steamer well, a less evolved version that was available in the 80’s.

The main thing is to control your shopping. You want to spend the majority of your time/money in the fruit/veggie section. For myself, I cut out meat entirely (occasional chicken) and used fish, eggs, and yogurt to get my protein. I recommend against the low-fat yogurt, because it’s super sugary and not as satisfying. For the same 200 calories you can have rich, creamy yogurt that fills you up and doesn’t create a sugar buzz/drop cycle.

I’d also recommend a blender if you can do it - be sure to get one that can handle ice crushing. Also, a raw foods cook book would be really helpful. Yogurt + ice +any fruit = super yummy OMG did I really just have that for dinner? (Oops, it was healthy!) Crushing up anything with ice makes you feel like you are eating a lot more than you are.

Also, I found that keeping lemons and limes really made a difference. I can eat broccoli all night if it has butter on it, but it turns out the same is true with lemon juice, and a whole lot fewer calories. Fish with a little salt and pepper and a couple thin slices of lime - pop it in the lower tier of the steamer. Throw some sliced veggies (yellow squash, celery and green beans, say) into the top tier and hit the “on” button for ten minutes.

Go to WalMart.com and explore the small kitchen appliances. You’d be surprised what’s out there - you can even get a counter top oven if you want it.

But if you’ve got to keep it under $100, my rec is the steamer and a blender.

I also found that warm whole grains before bed made a huge difference. Get something like this: Red Mill 10-grain Mix and make it in the microwave each night. Keep some dried blueberries on hand to toss in and make it yummy. Going to bed with warm healthy carbs in your stomach erases any feelings of deprivation, and has the added benefit of boosting your serotonin levels.

19

Does your grocery store have a salad bar? Every 3 days or so, make a meal of a big salad. See if you are OK with dressing it with just vinegar and parmesan, maybe a little olive oil. Just use the veggies, none of that jello-cool whip dessert on the salad bar. Load up on a variety of fresh veggies every couple of days, since your veggie options on other days will be more limited.

Canned soup with whole wheat crackers can be a pretty healthy, minimal cooking meal.

You can get microwavable brown rice. That’s a fairly healthy side dish. That with meat and a canned veggie would make a traditional meal. Chili (look in the health food section) over brown rice is another good option.

Have a banana, apple, or orange for breakfast.

Get plain nonfat yogurt and add canned fruit (in juice, not syrup) and top with a sprinkling of nuts to up the protein.

ETA: Plain, nonfat yogurt is not sugary. I think TruCelt is talking about the kind with fillers. Plain nonfat is just yogurt made with skim milk. You can sweeten it to taste.

20

Actually, any rice is made quite easily in the microwave. As are oats. Just use twice as much water as rice, and cook it in 5 minute spurts at 50% power until it’s done. Do this a couple of times and you’ll soon know to the minute how to get it just like you like it. Make sure you add a little salt to the water.